I am honored to serve as Editor-in-Chief of the ACG Case Reports Journal for the 2014-2015 academic year. In a very short time, our journal has been extraordinarily successful, and my goal is to continue our progress.

Both now and in my prior role as Associate Editor, I have evaluated many manuscripts and peer reviews. Many of our peer reviewers complete reviews for a variety of gastroenterology journals, and we appreciate their service to our new journal. However, peer review of a case report submission is notably different than the scientific evaluation of other data-driven manuscripts, such as clinical trials or retrospective analyses. To benefit both the authors and the editorial team at ACG Case Reports Journal, peer reviewers should consider three key areas when constructing a high-quality case report review.

Valuable Teaching Point
Does the submission provide a clear and logical teaching point to those interested in gastroenterology, most importantly fellows and residents? Valuable teaching points from case reports generally relate to a classic presentation of a rare clinical entity, an uncharacteristic presentation of a common disorder, or a unique therapeutic solution to a challenging clinical conundrum.

Language Expression
Is the manuscript well written with appropriate grammar and usage? Do the authors present a succinct report with a logical flow? Nothing is more distracting to readers than poor use of language, so author care with language and attention to detail is very important. Submissions should contain a brief introduction that summarizes the topic of discussion and provides a segue into the case report. The case description should be concise, with salient clinical information relevant to the case and no extraneous details. The discussion section should briefly summarize the relevance of the case with appropriate and accurate use of available and recently published literature, but should not be an extensive literature review.

Images and Figures
Images and figures greatly enhance a case report and should be included when available. Does the case contain a reasonable number of high-quality images that enhance the clinical presentation or demonstrate a pertinent feature? Images should contain robust figure legends and arrow identifiers of the salient features, especially for histopathology slides or less familiar imaging modalities (i.e., cholangiograms or MRI).

These tips are meant to provide a framework for construction of high-quality peer reviews for future case reports. We welcome all fellows and attendings to become peer reviewers for the journal by contacting acgcasereports@gi.org with a list of your relevant areas of interest and your preferred email address.